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Australian scientists hope to soon begin clinical trials for a cheap vaccine to combat the AIDS virus.

A team drawn from the Australian National University, the CSIRO and the MacFarlane Burnet Centre are trialing a new technique which may lead to the first viable vaccine against HIV.

It works in two stages, first priming the immune system before dramatically boosting the immune response against the virus. The vaccine has already proved very effective in monkeys.

The team believes the vaccine could be available for only a few cents per shot, administered without expensive equipment or training. It is hoped clinical trials could begin in Africa and Vietnam within 12 months.

Senior research scientist Stephen Kent says there is no guarantee the trials will be a success. "We really don't know for sure whether the studies that we've done are going to translate to protection in humans but this is amongst the most promising data so far," Dr Kent said.

"I think it's one small step but if it's along the right way then it'll be a wonderful breakthrough." He says the breakthrough was achieved by combining two vaccine techniques. "What we found was that when we combined these two

approaches, we give the DNA vaccine followed by a fowl pox vaccine, this produces a very good immunity against HIV and in the laboratory this results in protection from HIV," Dr Kent said.

"We clearly need to go on and see if this works in humans and we're looking forward to doing that in the future."